Masha Rostova or Elizabeth Keen?
by Xing Lee
Summary: Ressler is confused what to believe and what not to believe now that Liz has done the unthinkable. Is she really Masha Restova, an FSB Officer? Was she undercover all this time? What the future holds for Liz? What the AU Post-3x01.
1. Outside The Embassy

"Help! My name is Masha Rostova. I'm a Russian agent. I work for the FSB, and I'm seeking diplomatic immunity."

Ressler couldn't believe the words that he had just heard coming out of Liz's mouth. This was everything that she was accused of being and she just admitted it in front of him and Agent Navabi, after jumping into the Russian embassy no less!

Was there any possibility that this was true?

' _Nah nah nah nah….how is it possible? I know her, probably better than anyone. I've seen her at her highest and at her lowest. There's no way. It just isn't possible.'_ His heart said.

' _But isn't this what intelligence operatives do? Isn't this how it works?'_ A bit too rational part of his mind argued.

' _Remember what they told you about espionage in Quantico; hostile intelligence operators will build your trust and make you feel comfortable with them so that you're more forthcoming with their required information and/or are more amiable to being recruited & staying unsuspicious'_

' _No, not Liz. I know her.'_ His heart insisted & he shook his head lightly while looking into her eyes as she was pressed against the other side of the gate by Russian soldiers. She was looking apprehensive but also a bit relieved, and maybe even a little defiant, at staying away from being captured by the FBI.

For a fleeting moment, his heart won the argument. He felt a look of disappointment and sorrow come onto his face _._

' _What have you done Liz? What have you done? If you had only trusted in me a little bit more then I could have saved you. Now your career is finished, you'll be branded a traitor and spend the rest of your life being interrogated by some FSB agents in some hell hole Russian jail.'_ Ressler thought.

They kept staring at each other for a moment, and then she said, with conviction, without batting an eye, almost as if she was reading his thoughts:

"My conscious is clear. I served my country".

' _Was that meant for me or for the Russians guards trying to handcuff her behind her back?'_ Ressler thought, a little confused.

' _No, she's definitely talking to me.'_

' _Are you sure?'_

' _Yes.'_

 _Even if, she's telling you to wipe that look of disappointment and disbelief off your face because she's at peace with herself being who she is; a Moscow born FSB officer, Masha Rostova. She doesn't give a damn about you or anyone else, only her mission as an FSB agent. She killed the AG in cold blood with dozens of witnesses watching, she killed Senator_ Hawkins _openly, knowing we'll find out about her through the video footage, she killed 14 CIA officers in cold blood and used you as a cover to hide her true intentions. And now she's pitying you, Fool!'_

' _No, tha…..'_

' _And can you imagine the kind of information she would have constantly provided to Russia due to her access to sensitive resources and FBI databases? Counter intelligence unit knew there was a mole in the FBI somewhere. She is it!'_

'… _...No, that's no…t….'_

His train of thought was interrupted by Agent Navabi when she pulled out her badge, put it against the gate and demanded in a commanding tone to the guards holding Keen:

"She's an American citizen & an FBI most wanted fugitive, open the gate and hand her over to us now or you'll risk making this a diplomatic disaster. You have no right to harbor FBI fugitives!"

Both the guards looked up for a moment in surprise at the aggression in her voice. But before either of them could say anything, Keen spoke up in a hurry looking at one of the guards;

"No, I'm a Russian by birth and an FSB officer, FBI has no jurisdiction here. Take me to the rezident".

Both the guards shared a look and then one of them turned over to Agent Navabi, came close and took a glance at the badge that Navabi had put up against the gate, before looking up at her and saying in a surprisingly thick Russian accent:"

"Lady, vat ever grievances you haff you need to take them up at the official level with the embassy. Rite now ve are following standard operating procedures & that entails ensuring that rites of all Russian citizens are respected. You both need to take a step back from gate becauz you are blocking the entrance."

"She's an American. You're violating international laws and conventions here. Just le…"

"Lady, please step back and clear the pavement". The guard interrupted and made a gesture indicating her to move away from the gate.

Navabi knew her attempt at cowering them hadn't worked, it had flimsy chances at the outset, ' _but it was still worth a try'_ , she thought. Her stare off with the guard continued for a moment before she put a hand on Ressler's shoulder and said lightly:

"Come on Ressler, we're done here. It's out of our hands now".

Ressler didn't respond. He looked on as a soldier turned Liz around and did a full body pat down and then started walking her back into the embassy building. He noticed that they had not put on handcuffs on her as he had expected they were doing, the soldier had just lightly grabbed Liz's arm as he was taking her inside. _"Off course, why would they handcuff one of their own? Fool!"_ His rational brain admonished.

But his heart didn't respond this time. Perhaps it had stopped beating watching Liz walking into a life of humiliation and distrust, or maybe it had no further explanation to exonerate her actions? Whatever the case was, he knew in that moment that this was probably the last time he was he was seeing his partner.

" _Fool!"_ his mind screamed again.

* * *

 _ **Rezident:**_ _Designation of Station Chief of FSB (Russian intelligence) in a Russian Embassy._


	2. Inside The Embassy

Ressler and Navabi were driving back to Task Force Head Office in their SUV after Ressler had set up an FBI parameter around the Russian embassy and informed the Director of National Security, to her shock, that Keen had just jumped into the Russian embassy & had confessed to being a Russian agent, an FSB Officer, to be precise, in front of himself and agent Navabi,.

"Did you see how eager she was to enter the Russian embassy? Like that was the only place she would be safe, like it was her home." Agent Navabi remarked, almost disbelievingly.

Ressler seemed to be in a daze. He looked at Agent Navabi at her remark but didn't respond. He was in an unknown place in his mind right now. He felt that he had failed completely. It didn't even matter anymore if Liz, ' _or was it Masha'_ , his mind wondered _,_ was innocent or guilty. If it was the former then he had failed to protect her, and if it was the latter then he had failed to recognize her for who she truly was. Either way, he had failed completely. He felt almost sick.

' _And I'm the guy they made the Acting Director?',_ He snorted at this thought.

"What?" Agent Navabi looked at him.

"Can you blame her? We would have hunted her down anywhere else in DC. ", Ressler quipped, not saying what was really on his mind.

"Yeah well, I just had a hunch that she'd head there but I didn't know it was going to turn out to be this true." Agent Navabi said.

"Yeah, me too. This happens when the full force of FBI is breathing down your neck. You run to the place you feel most familiar and secure.", Ressler said, looking out the windscreen.

* * *

Phones were buzzing everywhere in the Russian embassy at this time of the day when usually everyone was preparing to wind up the day's work. The entire embassy seemed to have come alive after the news of a wanted FBI agent's jumping into the embassy had spread. The hustle and bustle was much more than usual. Even the employees who had nothing do with political matters directly had left their work and gathered in lobby number 3 in front of a huge LED TV where all news channels were screeching at the top of their lungs about this incident. They were calling her an FSB agent, Masha Rostova, who had infiltrated the FBI under the cover of Special Agent Elizabeth Keen. News channel crews had gathered up outside the embassy and were beaming live footage where joint teams of FBI and DC Metro Police had taken up positions and surrounded the embassy from all sides, blocking any way in or out.

Most of them were in a somber mood watching the news but some of the younger ones seemed really excited & curious by the news coverage for some reason. Perhaps they felt like they were part of political thriller movie and were on the winning side.

' _Idiots'_ , Military Attaché Colonel Mikhail Kozlov thought when he saw them while walking back to his room after having a brief meeting with the rezident Alexander Raskovitch & the ambassador Sergey Ivanovich Kislyak.

The meeting had been tense. They had had a candid discussion regarding the evolving situation and the Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had also joined them from Moscow on conference call for the better part of it. Lavrov wasn't happy at all with the news that was coming out of the media that an alleged Russian spy accused of the killing of 14 CIA officers and a US Attorney General had jumped into the their embassy in Washington DC.

Indeed, it was a very sensitive situation and he agreed with Lavrov & Kislyak that this was most probably a trap set by the US to malign Russia and put it under pressure because of its activities in Ukraine & Crimea and its recent bombing campaign against US supported rebel groups in Syria.

Raskovitch had also confirmed that he had no knowledge of any such covert operation or operative named Elizabeth Keen but he had abstained from making a final judgement before confirming this from the intelligence community from Moscow. He had argued that it was theoretically possible that such a covert assignment may have been undertaken by FSB or SVR without keeping him in the loop due to unknown operational or political reasons. He wanted a couple of hours to confirm this possibility before making any final judgement call. Lavrov was not pleased at all and wanted to pull in the FSB & SVR heads directly into this meeting but contact could not be made because apparently both of them were very busy in the Kremlin. Lavrov had given Raskovitch one hour to confirm & report the actual picture of the situation before adjourning the meeting.

In the meanwhile, they had decided that Kozlov would be the person to initially debrief the subject before any status confirmation came from Moscow. Kozlov looked a bit young but he had no dearth of experience. He knew exactly the things that he needed to ascertain from this "Keen" personality and how to go about it doing it, but considering that there was a possibility that she might be one of their own, he decided that he would keep it pleasant & accepting until a final confirmation from Raskovitch.

* * *

Elizebeth Keen had been transferred to a small conference room by the guards and she had been waiting there for about half an hour for anyone to come through the door and start their debriefing of her but there was no sign of any activity. There was a camera upfront on the wall and she knew they must have been watching and observing her so that made her a little bit nervous and agitated. She had half a mind to get up and knock at the door to get someone's attention before suddenly the door opened and a tall, impeccably suited man came through with a file tucked in his left hand.

"I do apologize for keeping you waiting, Mikhail Kozlov", he said shaking hands with Liz.

"Are you the embassy intelligence chief?" Liz asked, noticing that his English seemed perfect, unlike the guards that she had encountered earlier.

He sat down opposite to her and opened his file, "We are not here to discuss my curriculum vitae, agent Keen. Only to ascertain why you are here and what you hope to accomplish now that the FBI has surrounded the embassy."

"I am not here to talk to a pawn without adequate clearance", her tone was dismissive.

"Nor are we here to harbor foreign agents of the FBI, agent Keen", he coolly shot back.

This time Liz completely ignored him, stood up, took a few steps towards the camera on the wall and said while looking directly into it;

"My name is Masha Rostova. I am a deep cover operative for the Federalnaya Sluzhba Bezopasnosti. I have successfully completed my mission and am hereby seeking asylum. I would appreciate an immediate and private audience with your Chief Intelligence Officer."

" _That_ may come later, agent Keen. For now, please take a seat and relax a little. Now that you're here, you're not going anywhere anytime soon. You have all the time in the world for meeting other people, but right now, it's my turn, please", Kozlov said, gesturing her back towards her chair.

She didn't have much choice. Kozlov hadn't budged even a little bit. Hoping that someone watching would respond to her request soon enough, she held his gaze for a good 10 seconds trying to show her confidence & annoyance before slowly making her way back to the chair.

"Thank you so much, agent Keen, or should I call you Ms. Rostova?", he suddenly seemed genuinely pleased that she had acquiesced.

When she didn't respond for a few seconds, Kozlov continued, "Ms. Rostova it is then. I'm sorry we have gotten off on a wrong foot. Let's try again."

She raised her eyebrows a little.

' _Maybe my confidence worked a little bit after all,_ she thought.

"So, I was watching CNN a little while earlier and it made me realize that since you have been out and about trying to evade the law enforcement agencies since this morning, I can't imagine you had the time to take a break and enjoy a good meal. I'm sure you'd like to eat something before we begin our formal debriefing session", Kozlov gave her an earnest smile.

She really had had such a rough day that she had forgotten all about lunch. But she didn't want to get into it just now, until she knew exactly what she had gotten herself into.

"I don't think that would be necessary", her tone was monotonous.

"I understand that you're not very happy with the current situation, Ms. Rostova, but I assure you, I may not be the embassy intelligence chief but I'm not a pawn either. A lot is going on outside that closed door", he pointed towards the exit door, "and I'm sure you can understand when I say that some things really do take their time. We can't rush them.", he took a deep breath and continued.

"So, let's have some delayed lunch and get to know each other a little better. I certainly can't compete with you but my day was pretty bad as well so I'll join you too, as earnestly as I can", he flashed a smile.

She didn't know what to say. Whatever she had been expecting when she had come here, this wasn't it.

"Please excuse me for a moment.", he said standing up. "If you'd like to freshen up a little there's a washroom right there", he pointed towards a door adjacent to her which she had somehow missed seeing before.

Without waiting for her reply, he gave her courteous smile and walked out of the room, presumably to arrange for some lunch.

This wasn't going exactly according to what she had in mind when she had jumped in the embassy and this worried her a little.

' _Who am I kidding? Even I didn't know what I was thinking, except getting protection from FBI',_ she thought.

* * *

But in the end, the thought placated her a little that she had thrown her lot in with the Russians and there was not much she could now except to cooperate with them, at least for now.

' _At least they have treated you fairly till now, and no handcuffs either.'_ , her mind offered.

After getting out of the conference room Kozlov headed straight to his executive assistant's office to deliver some instructions but she wasn't there.

" _Seems like everyone's watching TV.",_ Kozlov thought ruefully while dialing her number on his mobile. 2-3 bells and then she picked up;

"Sir.", there was background noise of people talking and a newscaster saying something about the state department.

"Nadezhda, please have Vladislav serve lunch for two in conference room no 5. Also, tell him that he's to deflect all questions from our guest, if any, except about the meal. Report to me immediately when it's done", his tone was commanding.

"Sir.", was her only acknowledgement.

 _Click_

He took off his coat and hung it behind his chair before sitting down in his office and opening the FBI file on Agent Keen on his laptop which their source had sent through a few minutes after his brief meeting with the Foreign Minister and others. He hadn't had the time to go through it other than a taking cursory glance before heading in to meet Keen. He had gone into the room with a printed copy of this file in hand and had deliberately left it on the table in front of Keen to help her understand the kind of reach that they had. The idea behind it was to make her realize that if she wasn't genuine, she was in over her head if she thought she could fool them.

He looked at his wristwatch, 5:35. Raskovitch still needed time for status confirmation of the guest. He hadn't come out of his office since their meeting.

" _Let's see what she's been doing all these years", Kozlov thought, scrolling down the file._

… _._

 _15 mins later,_ Nadezhda poked her head through his office door.

"Sir, the lunch's been served."

He looked up from his laptop and said; "Thank you dear. Did she say anything?"

"She asked for you."

"Did she? And what did Vladislav say?", he asked rhetorically while putting his coat back on.

"He told her that you'd join her shortly."

"Good, did she read the file?"

"Yeah she was going through it when Vladislav entered the room."

"Even better.", Kozlov gave her a smile and walked out of his room taking long strides, through the crowed in lobby no 3 and into conference room no 5 where their guest was waiting.

' _Let's see.',_ Kozlov thought, opening the door.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Sergey Lavrov** : The real Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russia since 2004.

 **Sergey Ivanovich Kislyak** : The real Ambassador of Russia in the US since 2008.

 **The Center:** Informal name for FSB Headquarters in Moscow.

 **Nadezhda:** Using the name "Nadezhda" for Kozlov's executive secretary is a tribute to the character of Elizabeth Jennings in the show "The Americans", an undercover KGB agent in the US, whose birth name was "Nadezhda".

I've tried to keep this fiction as true to reality as possible. The sad fact is that the TPTB decided to go in a different direction, finishing the Russian story arc altogether in one episode after Liz jumped into the Russian Embassy, but I'm determined to imagine what would have happened in real life if she had done this. There is no way Russia would have sent her to Moscow that easily, and there is certainly no way a member of the Federal Tariff Service could have ordered that, Cabal or no Cabal. This was a big event and had to have big players involved and required lots of time before all parties reached to any sort of conclusion. Also, the real Intelligence chief or rezident in an embassy would never identify himself as such in front of a walk-in. He is under a diplomatic cover and his identity is always kept a secret. Other people debrief walk-ins under his supervision.

I wanted to write dialogs of Russian characters in Russian language using google translate but since the vast majority of the readers wouldn't have understood it, I decided to go with English. But please imagine in your head that they're talking in Russian.

I've concluded the story in my mind and Russia is going to play a big role in it.

And just for the record; I'm Asian, not Russian. :)


End file.
